Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Chicago O'hare Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chicago, Illinois 60666
Monday, December 23, 1991 9:05 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 73 (N142AA) WAS HOLDING IN POSITION ON RUNWAY 32R. AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 489 (N497AA) WAS CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF ON RUNWAY 9L. SHORTLY AFTER THIS, AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 873 WAS CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF ON RUNWAY 32L, FROM T1 INTERSECTION. BOTH FLIGHT 73 AND FLIGHT 873 ACKNOWLEDGED THE CLEARANCE AND INITIATED TAKEOFF ROLLS. THE LOCAL CONTROLLER DID NOT DETECT THE CONFUSION. A NEAR COLLISION OF TWO OF THE AIRCRAFT OCCURRED WHEN FLIGHT 489, IN THE INITIAL CLIMB PHASE OF FLIGHT, PASSED OVER FLIGHT 73, ON TAKEOFF ROLL, IN THE INTERSECTION OF RUNWAYS 32R AND 9L.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE LOCAL CONTROLLER'S NOT UNDERSTANDING READ BACK OF RADIO COMMUNICATIONS. FACTORS INCLUDE THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND OF FLIGHT 73 NOT UNDERSTANDING VERBAL INSTRUCTIONS; LOCAL CONTROLLER NOT VISUALLY IDENTIFYING THE AIRCRAFT; AND INADEQUATE SURVEILLANCE (FAA) IN THE TOWER.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 12/23/1991 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 905 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | CHICAGO |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 60666 |
| Event Date Year | 1991 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | CHICAGO O'HARE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ORD |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 667 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 850 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 220 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ORD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 667 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 40 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 315 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5042 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 46304 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 29 2001 3:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N142AA | N497AA |
| NTSB Number | CHI92IA061A | CHI92IA061B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | None | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MCDONNELL DOUGLAS | MCDONNELL DOUGLAS |
| Aircraft Model | DC-10-30 | DC-9-82 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DC-10-30 | DC-9-82 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 46714 | 49735 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 554500 | 149500 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 305 | 149 |
| Number of Engines | 3 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 2 2000 12:00AM | Jan 2 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 65122 | 6624 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AMERICAN AIRLINES | WILMINGTON TRUST COMPANY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 619616 | RODNEY SQUARE NORTH |
| Aircraft Owner City | DFW AIRPORT | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75261 | 19840 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | AMERICAN AIRLINES | AMERICAN AIRLINES |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 619616 | P.O. BOX 619616 |
| Operator City | DFW AIRPORT | DFW AIRPORT |
| Operator State | TX | TX |
| Operator Country | ||
| Operator Zip code | 75261 | 75261 |
| Operator Code | AALA | AALA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger/Cargo | Passenger/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | ||
| Departure City | ||
| Departure State | ||
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 905 | 905 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HNL | IAH |
| Destination City | HONOLULU | HOUSTON |
| Destination State | HI | TX |
| Destination Country | ||
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 20 2002 12:42PM | Jan 10 2001 12:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 | 9 |
| Runway Length | 10003 | 7966 |
| Runway Width | 150 | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |